Quick curried quorn noodles

After Chinese takeaway at his uncle’s one night, Sam had developed a fascination with noodles and chopsticks. I thought i’d use this as excuse to develop a new kid-friendly noodle dish that wasn’t our bog standard stir-fry.

I had a look in the cupboard and came out with a tin of coconut milk, mild curry paste and a vegetable stock cube and reckoned this could make a fairly tasty sauce.

I was a little nervous about using even mild curry paste, as the boys hate the idea of anything remotely spicy. I didn’t mention the curry word to Sam when I was making it. As far as he was concerned he was getting noodles – not some pan Chinese-Indian via Thailand concoction!

To make the sauce extra smooth I popped it all in the blender before adding the rest of the ingredients. I’ve been doing this a lot lately with sauces as it prevent the boys from picking out the lumps and means they’ll just eat it.

The result was a really tasty bowl of steaming noodles studded with chunks of golden quorn that was universally gobbled down. Personally I think adding coconut milk to recipes always seems to make them child friendly as it tones down spice and gives a creamy and sweet dimension.

If you’re meat eaters you could of course use chicken or prawns with this recipe.

1. Gently fry the onion and pepper until softened, stir in the curry paste and allow to cook for a few more minutes. Add in the coconut milk and stock and stir until combined. Cook gently for a few minutes and then remove from heat. If you want a smooth sauce then blitz with a blender at this point.

2. Stir fry the quorn pieces in a little sesame oil until golden.

3. Pour boiling water over the noodles and leave to stand for a few minutes until cooked.

4. Drain the noodles then mix with the quorn, sauce and sweetcorn and then serve up in bowls.

Lovely recipe and photo! My children would probably enjoy this and blending the sauce is a great idea. Recently, my macaroni cheese got rejected for having ‘bits’ of onion in it and my bolognese for having ‘green bits’ – courgette. So, as you suggest, out comes the blender…

Thanks Ren – yes a blender hides a multitude of things!!! It’s strange coz my kids will eat vegetables when they’re cooked separately and served as a side, but heaven forbid they should find a lump of finely diced vegetable in a sauce…